WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies had already obtained a trove of Chinese data containing potential clues on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic when President Joe Biden ordered a review earlier this year. The challenge was in deciphering it.
Spy agencies needed data scientists to process the intelligence, biologists to put it into context, and Mandarin Chinese speakers to help translate it. All of them needed security clearances for access to classified information.
It was a high-profile example of a growing challenge within the intelligence community.
